My mind was clear. I now had only one, precise goal: finding, and then saving my mother. There was no place left for any doubt. A few hours earlier, I learned of the possibility of survival of my mother. It was just a small ray of hope at first, but as I thought single mindedly about it, the ‘maybe’ became a ‘probably’, and ‘probably’ transformed into ‘certainly’. It had become, in my mind, impossible for the situation to be any different from this: my mother was alive, and she needed me to rescue her.

“Norr, what are you doing?” Tetsu asked as he entered my room. He seemed to have grown bored of all the paperwork and had pushed it onto Jenny.

“Oh, nothing, I was just practicing my magic,” I answered as I hid my bag behind me. I was actually packing, and I planned to leave during the night. I lied since I didn’t want to risk being discovered and having to stay here any longer. My mother was in danger, and she needed me as soon as possible. If Tetsu or Jenny learned of my plan, they would have me prepare thoroughly and I would lose a few days at best, months at worst.

“Huh, you’re lying, aha! Are you…” Tetsu approached me and whispered in my ear. “…planning to sneak out of here?”

“Heh? I—I mean, no?” Startled, I tried to lie confidently, but I stuttered.

“I see… Hmm, let me come with me, please?”

“…What?” I wasn’t sure to understand what he was saying. Wasn’t he supposed to try to discourage me?

“I mean… It’s so boring here! I need some exercise once in a while! I need to adventure! I’m not made to stay indoor all day. So, please? Let me accompany you, and I won’t tell anything to Jen?” He pleaded, still whispering.

“Err, I…” I hadn’t prepared for something like this, and I didn’t know how to answer his request. While I could certainly use his strength, he didn’t have anything to do with me or my mother, so asking him to help would be quite shameless. And, what if he was just bluffing? He might be. He was the Guild Master, why would he need to run away? “… Do you know where I’m going?” I tried gathering more information before deciding.

“No! Ahah! That’s what makes it even more interesting! Exploring, fighting, saving people… Those things are even more enjoyable when they’re unpredictable!” He answered right away. “Nowadays, I can only go out to do quests that were specifically requested for me. That’s not fun! So, I often sneak out and do quests with other adventurers. Their face when I tell them I’m the Guild Master, it’s priceless! Hahahahaha! … Hum, back to the topic, take me with you?” He whispered once more.

“I’m not sure—” He cut me before I could finish my sentence.

“Oh, even if you refuse, I’ll still come. See you tonight! I’ll be waiting at the exit of the city!” And, just like this, he left my room.

“Gah… He really doesn’t care about what I think…” I expired. “Well, back to packing. It doesn’t do any good to think about him too much. He’s strong, so he might help, at least…” I said quietly as I double checked my backpack’s content. I didn’t have much, just some clothes I had been given by Jenny, the mask my mother left me and a map of the country. I had bought the last item during the day, and had studied it a little bit already. I knew that we were in Rossell, also known as the Adventurer’s city, and that the town I came from was named Elgothas.

“I’m ready. Time to sleep a little. I’ll go out in about four hours.”

My sleep was filled with dreams of a heroic me who saved my mother from all kind of monsters and bad guys, only to have her vanish every time. I woke up in a cold sweat as my dream self got beaten up by my father’s army, my mother in his arms.

“Wha, where am I?... Oh, right that was just a dream. Okay. Yeah.” I looked out the window, and, noticing that the sun was no where to be seen, I put my mask on, took my bag and slipped outside.

The Guild was almost at the entrance of the city, making it a short walk to exit. It was located there so that it could be easier to find it for all adventurers. The city also wanted it to be there so that adventurers could be at the front line if ever anything attacked the city, be it monsters or humans.

I arrived at the exit, encountering a first problem: The door was closed. There was a giant door that opened as the sun arose and close when the night arrived. Why didn’t I think about this sooner? How was I going to escape now?

“Yo, finally there?” I heard behind me. “Let’s go, then. The trick to escaping is to do so quickly. You don’t want to stay here too long, Jen’s radar is super strong these days,” Tetsu praised the secretary.

“Huhh, I’d like to, but can’t you see that?” I said as I pointed towards the exit. “What are you gonna do about that? Wait until tomorrow morning?” I asked, slightly pissed off.

“What, you consider that a problem? Pff, amateur,” he snorted.

“What did you say?... Okay, how are we supposed to leave then, oh, Grand Master?” I retorqued with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

“Simple,” he said as he took me in his arms and princess carried me. “You just,” he squatted and gathered strength in his legs, “JUMP!” He jumped, covering half the height of the gigantic wall.

“WhA—Gahh!” He then – yes, I know, this sounds like I’m making this up, but, believe me, I was there – proceeded to run on the wall towards the sky.

“Nice, I succeeded in only one try this time! Ahaha! Some exercise is always refreshing.” I took off my mask after we stopped moving, sensing no one except from Tetsu near me. We were now on top of the wall, and I could see both in and outside of the city, which was bathing in the moonlight. The scenery was breathtaking, but Tetsu didn’t leave me any time to contemplate. “And now, we go down! Close your eyes! AhahaAHAHA!” He laughed as he took a step, making us both fall. I closed my eyes, scared from seeing the ground approach me quickly and feeling the wind hitting my face. Suddenly, after a few seconds, we stopped moving.

“… What was that…?” I asked, opening my eyes slowly.

“Hm? We just passed the wall, young man! How was it, your first experience? Wanna try again? It’s fun, right? It’s a nice boost of adrenaline, at least!” He answered confidently.

“Eh, no thanks, I’ll pass on that.”

“Oh, okay. Where are we going?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Elgothas. Do you know how to get there?” I asked.

“I do, but didn’t you buy a map?”

“Yeah, just… I mean, if you know how to go, the map isn’t necessary, right?” I answered nervously.

“Oh, don’t tell me… You can’t read a map?” He teased me.

“Eh? No, of course I can! Who do you take me for?” I answered angrily.

“Oho? Alright, where do we need to go from now? You must know, since you can read a map!”

“Err, it’s… this way!” I pointed towards the forest. Actually, Tetsu was right. Even if I had already seen maps, I never had to find my way using one before. And so, I pointed in a random direction, hoping to be right.

“…” He took my arm, pushed it to the right, looked around a little, pushed it again, and then, he approved. “That’s about right.”

“Yeah, let’s go!” I blushed as I put my mask back on. I was really off the mark on that one. “I need to learn to read maps…” I murmured to myself.